Timeline of Major Events in the world of BES:

December 28, 2040: Start of the Great Last War. After most of the resources in Europe were used up in 2030, the various states turned their attention towards the mostly unused resources of Africa.

After many years of exploitation, the Great African Union was born and decided to fight against these invaders with the use of cybernetics and androids. At first, all the Nations of Europe were losing so they called the help of the United State to balance the scale. The Middle East worked as a neutral land that helped fuel the war for longer so they could gain more from it.

Seeing this, the Chinese use these as excuses to declare war on all the other nations in Asia, starting with the land invasion of India and the dropping of bombs on Japan which hit Nagoya, splitting Honshuu in two and leaving Hokkaido a tiny shell of its former self. After such acts of violence, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and all the other Micro states united with Japan and Korea against this terrible tyrant, creating the Aesian Federation. Which had its first act be the elimination of North Korea, turning the Korean Peninsula into an island.

January 14, 2043: Ulysses, leader of the Great African Union, was pushed back to his last base of South Africa. Betrayed by the Middle East States, on his last leg and with a wall behind his back decided in a momentary lapse of folly to bring the whole down with him.

This event will be known as the Madness of Ulysses. He activated every last nuclear and non-nuclear armament he could and aimed it at Europe, North America and the Middle East. Thankfully, a group of unknown specialists which had no affiliation to any of the participants in the war were able to divert the main target of the armaments to less populated areas and doing so saving millions.

August 2, 2044: Formation of most of the faction and birth of Poleis City States: European Union of Poleis, The Papal State, The Church of Redemption and the Caliphate in Europe and Middle East. Russian people did not accept to join the EUP and remained a loosely cohesive collection of Poleis.

Meanwhile the Nordic State were mostly unscathed from the War, although their AI in charge of automated martial defense, named Heimdal, went rogue and closed all of the states border and forced its population to live there “for their own safety”.

Mexico has become the new Panama Canal between North America and South. In America corporations started to take power in the vacuum and created the Renewed States of America as a facade for the whole world. South America has become a den of criminality, especially after Madness of Ulysses since most of the members of the Great African Front settled there.

August 25, 2044: The Chinese Party was able to conquer most of India, although right at the end, their army fell into the trap set by the masked A-Class Unknown Red Oni and the last remaining members of the Indian army. This event is known as Yama’s Retribution. Because of that, most of India has become an inhospitable land and the few survivors left for neighboring nations which gladly accepted them in their countries.

February 7, 2046: Emergence of the Black Hand faction. Gained infamy from all over the world because of their assassination attempts towards the various leaders of Europe and the Caliphate. The Black Hand is made up of various androids that have gained sentience (most likely a bug in their systems) that allowed them to be free, although their thinking capabilities were limited by what A.I. they were made with. The Unseen One, their leader, is estimated to be a Beta-class A.I. with many android bodies able to foster its powerful mind. They work mostly as mercenaries, but that is a front and they plan to subtly, sometimes forcefully, spread android sentience awareness. They will succeed, be it through force or worse.

May 3, 2048: The Renewed States of America incorporate in their lands Canada and Greenland, this last one being used as a extreme long range armament base. After 4 years since its rebirth, the people of America are able to choose one person to represent them: Abraham Roosevelt, a war veteran from the Last Great War and a man endowed with tremendous charisma. It is said he was able to bring all the corporations to its knees and take control of them. They are now subdued, the power of raw capitalism in his hands but he is still just a mortal man, once he dies America will fall back to its vices and start a corpo-war within itself. He had to find a worthy inheritor or…

July 29, 2050: The CCP, even with the grave defeat they had taken in India, was able to hold off the combined might of the Aesian Federation. Hong Kong becomes the major focus of the conflict because of its supplies (Human Enhancers and Cybernetics) and once they saw the Chinese army walking close to its border, they sided with the Aesian Federation. Since the Federation could not send more of its army, they sent their best Unknown: The Red Oni. He, with his tiny group of Unknowns, were able to hold off the coming invasion thanks to a masterful use of guerilla warfare.

October 26, 2057: The CCP withdraws all of its troops from its fronts and sends them to Hong Kong in a last mad attempt to conquer something. The first Iron Soldiers are seen in live combat. The Red Oni is able to valiantly defend Hong Kong's alone but is later betrayed by his group and killed by someone he called his brother. Codename: The Hong Kong Massacre (Or Asian Polis #2 Massacre as it is known in the West). This is the birth of the Grinning Devil.

December 28, 2062: Beginning of the Behind Each Smile Story.

Explanation of terms you may encounter in BES:

Unknowns -> People who have lost everything or that were born during/after the Great Last War. These people that have nothing else to lose but themselves sell their abilities to whichever can pay for their services, be they Polis, corporations or even the government. They are a very heterogeneous group, made up by cybernetically and genetically enhanced humans, though sometimes a pure human can try his hand at being one, at least until death comes for them. The lowest on Unknown's hierarchy are the E-class, going to the top with the A-class. Some Unknown are classified as U-class (Unidentifiable). They are the ones with impressive accomplishments under their names and are mostly called by their Title, such is the case with the Grinning Devil. These ones are the apex predators and are considered to be the most dangerous humans on the planet; thankfully there are only a handful of them.

A.C.E. -> It is a downgraded version made of Human Enhancers. They are mostly used as a last resort since using them as a base human is a death sentence in 80% of the cases. The most common ACE is made from Vanguard Variant, so it empowers physical abilities by one rank (depending from which grade the ACE was made from), though other variants exist though are more rare.

Human Enhancers -> Thanks to a complex man-made virus, this serum is able to modify your base human DNA. Modifications depend on what kind of variant has been injected. Genetic compatibility is the main factor in determining the survival of the gene modification process. There are three grades of H.E. The higher the grade, the more dangerous the process is for the subject, though the pair they gain can go above common humanity. 1st grade is peak humanity (pending compatibility), 2nd grade is one step into superhuman territory and the 3rd grade can be considered physical gods.

H.E. Vanguard Variant ->The first Human Enhancer to have been created. Enhances muscle and bone density, fatigue toxin production, outer and inner layers of skin become more durable: harder to pierce and scratch. It gives the user a limited active and passive regeneration (requires a lot of nutrients to be used effectively; can be potentially lethal). Does not enhance reflexes since they are part of the nervous system.

H.E. Ranger Variant ->The rarest of all the Human Enhancer. Only one person in the world has injected it and survived (since the serum modifies the nervous system, most people die in a few minutes after taking it), though because of it she has become quadriplegic and lost most of her senses. Though because of it she has gained a towering intellect, her thinking speed dwarfs most Gamma-class AI and it is said she can go toe to toe with an Alpha-class A.I. It empowers logic, sequencing, linear thinking, mathematics, thinking in words, imagination, holistic thinking, intuition, rhythm, nonverbal cues, feelings visualization and daydreaming.

H.E. Officer Variant -> The second rarest but least developed of the three enhancers. Created during the Last Great War, this was Europe's solution to the clear lack of capable leaders in the front lines. The idea behind this enhancer was to make super leaders, people capable of thinking faster and better than any human. Unfortunately, because it was quite experimental, most of the people that took it were not genetically compatible. Compared to the other enhancers, the Officer variant has the strictest requisites, needing not only a solid body, but a sound mind too. The enhancements to the body were slightly weaker than a pure Vanguard variant, but the enhanced speed in reflexes and thought would allow them to keep up in a one on one fight. Officer Variant Enhanced must be careful to never overwork their brain, otherwise even their enhanced would break down to satisfy the energy required to keep their brain running.

Few people in the world have survived injection, though those that have are most likely leaders of Polis or a big shot in whatever faction they belong in.

A.C.E. O.D. ->Base humans can safely take one shot of ACE without becoming an abomination. Most people die of heart attack or aneurysm after the effects of ACE are over (circa 10 minutes). Enhanced humans can take safely more (depending on their body’s fortitude) but they still can O.D. on ACE. A telltale sign of ACE OD is the changing of the iris’s color into a purple one. Other ones may include purple-ish blood and visible black veins on the person’s skin. When someone OD, they are to be quickly taken off before they go Cannibal and start devouring everything in their way. The best way to kill one is by decapitation or incineration, the latter being more preferable, especially in cases of Enhanced Cannibals.

Cannibal -> When they sustain severe damage and do not have enough nutrients in their bodies to heal themselves, people that are OD-ing on ACE go Cannibal. They start devouring everything that can be possibly transformed into nutrients to keep its host alive, even other humans. If the head is damaged, but the body is still going Cannibal, it is required to incinerate the abomination as it devours a whole Polis. A Cannibal cannot be considered a person anymore, they are to be put down whenever possible to prevent a disaster.

D.H.D. -> Department of Human Development. A German megacorporation, mainly responsible for the creation of the first Human Enhancers and its continued production. Their leader is the only human to have ever survived the H.E. Ranger variant injection and she is in control of most of the Polis making up the EUP.

EUP -> European Union of Poleis. They are a loose alliance of Ex-EU nations made up from what remained of them after the Last Great War. Thanks to them, life has become manageable for the middle-class to low-class population through the creation of gigantic Terrarium in which they could cultivate whatever crop or vegetable was left unscathed from the radiation and then give the end product to those who could not afford it. Unfortunately this sort of control has only made the gap between the poor part of the Polis and the wealthier even more noticeable then before the Last Great War. The EUP is divided into many factions, but the two more prevalent ones are the Independence Faction and the United one. The former made up by ex-politics of the EU era that advocate against the blatant abuse of power the corporations (mainly the DHD) are performing through the name of EUP and the latter made by those that see that the DHD and their various counterparts as the only reason that the EUP is still standing strongly to this day, so for them it is a necessary evil of sorts.